So the other night, the trainees in my site decided to have a movie night at our language teacher's house. My mom sent all of the ingredients for chai tea (THANKS AGAIN!) and my teacher's never had it before. So I made chai tea and we watched Labrynth. And for those of you who have never seen the Labrynth, let me warn you... it is David Bowie, spandex, and puppets! Oh my. This was my first time watching this movie and might not be my last. It was ridiculous but in a good way. It was really funny because my language teacher was taking notes on words she had not heard before.
Another night, we all went to our 'thinking' gazebo to hang out. In our village, there is a gazebo that overlooks our gourge. It is so beautiful. But we went there after we taught one of our lessons to hang out and wind down from the day. It felt like any other American night with friends. I was sad that it had to end. I think I might be a little homesick, not so much in the sense of wanting to be home, just in the sense of missing home-y things, American things. But I knew that would happen and I am not the only one that feels that way, and I know this wont be the last time I feel this way.
And on the same side of feeling a little homesick, I am having a great time teaching. Right now I have taught about 6 environmental lessons with another trainee. We have taught through the use of a translator. Next week, I will be teaching a lesson on my own in English. And then the week following, I will teach two lessons completely in Armenian. There will be translators to help us if we get stuck, but we will be on our own for the most part! I am actually excited about it because it means I get to learn environmental words. It will be really helpful for once I get to site!
It is also interesting because the kids have been having a great time in our lessons, and they are very different from the lessons they normally get in school. We are told that the teaching style here is pretty much rote memorization and reading from texts. So it is fun to have hands-on and outdoor activities. I am excited to get to site and begin teaching more. It is going to be difficult, but this last week has made me realize how much I miss being in the classroom teaching. It will also be interesting to see how I meld my style of teaching with the Armenian style of teaching.
In other news, my language is coming along. I am able to understand more than I can speak which is normal of most language learning. And I have been picking up slang words and that is always fun because once you learn it, you realize how much it is used. So here are some new words for you:
Inch ca-chica? Whats up?
Ban-chica Nothing
yekhav- ok
ay kes ban- how come? why did this happen?
lov elle- come on
de lov- oh good
There are some others, but I figure that will do for now.
Thanks again for all of the comments! Hope all is well! Miss you guys!
25 July 2009
16 July 2009
4th and 5th of July!
So, I have a lot to update and am not sure how much I will get through, but I will try. First things first, 4th of July!!!
As we started planning for 4th of July, all we could talk about was the food we would make. To make this holiday as American as possible, we decided on hamburgers, potato salad, pasta salad, mac n cheese, and some grilled veggies. We shopped in Charentsevan for the food and found just about everything we needed. I made the mac n cheese but couldnt find cheddar so had to substitute it with other cheese. But it turned out amazing!
We had language class in the morning and then began cooking that afternoon. We planned to have our families meet at the school for dinner, which was early for them. The dinner went really well. People seemed to enjoy the food and some even went back for seconds. We were warned that they might be hesitant to try the food, which is completely understandable. But there were toasts made and there was definitely a sense of friendship. It was a very cool experience, to be able to share a little of our traditions with our families.
After dinner, we went outside and invited the entire village for games and fun activities. We had pin the tail on the donkey, a pinata, and then other sports, such as kickball. It was really fun to see the kids play these games because they were obviously not something they had played before and the concept was somewhat lost on them. Kickball was really funny to watch because it is not something most of them have ever played. And then we only had limited language, so we couldnt explain it during the game. We were using our language teachers and some of the village members who understood english to translate, but it didnt come across that well. But then the kids showed us Armenian dodgeball, called gordes-a-gordes (I think). It is basically dodgeball but there are two lines that throw back and forth to eachother with the ones who will be tagged out standing in the middle. That was a lot of fun, and they decided to have the Americans in the middle with all of the village kids on the outside lines. It got pretty intense and some of our competative personalities definitely came out!
We took a lot of fun pictures and hope that we have time to have another game day in our village. Our schedules are so busy until the end of PST that who knows if we will be able to. But it definitely has given me ideas for site!
I know this is a short description, but it was a really great day! It was a lot of fun to see all of the families and have a dinner that was prepared by us for them. A small way we could show our appreciation for all that they do for us! It was also a lot of fun to play with the kids of our village! I really hope to do that again!
The day after 4th of July, I wanted to make dinner for my family. I got some really good spices and wanted to use them. So I made spaghetti, garlic bread, zucchini, and a salad. They had had spaghetti before and really enjoyed that but were really excited about the garlic bread. I made it with this delicious bread but I dont know the name of it. It was so good... it tasted like a little bit of home! But they really appreciated that too, and it was a good way to show how thankful I am for them being so wonderful.
My next post should be on my site visit! Hope all is well! Oh and Happy late Anniversary to my parents! You guys are wonderful and thanks for being super supportive!!! Love you!!!
As we started planning for 4th of July, all we could talk about was the food we would make. To make this holiday as American as possible, we decided on hamburgers, potato salad, pasta salad, mac n cheese, and some grilled veggies. We shopped in Charentsevan for the food and found just about everything we needed. I made the mac n cheese but couldnt find cheddar so had to substitute it with other cheese. But it turned out amazing!
We had language class in the morning and then began cooking that afternoon. We planned to have our families meet at the school for dinner, which was early for them. The dinner went really well. People seemed to enjoy the food and some even went back for seconds. We were warned that they might be hesitant to try the food, which is completely understandable. But there were toasts made and there was definitely a sense of friendship. It was a very cool experience, to be able to share a little of our traditions with our families.
After dinner, we went outside and invited the entire village for games and fun activities. We had pin the tail on the donkey, a pinata, and then other sports, such as kickball. It was really fun to see the kids play these games because they were obviously not something they had played before and the concept was somewhat lost on them. Kickball was really funny to watch because it is not something most of them have ever played. And then we only had limited language, so we couldnt explain it during the game. We were using our language teachers and some of the village members who understood english to translate, but it didnt come across that well. But then the kids showed us Armenian dodgeball, called gordes-a-gordes (I think). It is basically dodgeball but there are two lines that throw back and forth to eachother with the ones who will be tagged out standing in the middle. That was a lot of fun, and they decided to have the Americans in the middle with all of the village kids on the outside lines. It got pretty intense and some of our competative personalities definitely came out!
We took a lot of fun pictures and hope that we have time to have another game day in our village. Our schedules are so busy until the end of PST that who knows if we will be able to. But it definitely has given me ideas for site!
I know this is a short description, but it was a really great day! It was a lot of fun to see all of the families and have a dinner that was prepared by us for them. A small way we could show our appreciation for all that they do for us! It was also a lot of fun to play with the kids of our village! I really hope to do that again!
The day after 4th of July, I wanted to make dinner for my family. I got some really good spices and wanted to use them. So I made spaghetti, garlic bread, zucchini, and a salad. They had had spaghetti before and really enjoyed that but were really excited about the garlic bread. I made it with this delicious bread but I dont know the name of it. It was so good... it tasted like a little bit of home! But they really appreciated that too, and it was a good way to show how thankful I am for them being so wonderful.
My next post should be on my site visit! Hope all is well! Oh and Happy late Anniversary to my parents! You guys are wonderful and thanks for being super supportive!!! Love you!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)